Every time, I think of posting something, I get a little nervy. Has anyone who has tried the recipe managed to get it right? I wonder how many who tried had said, “this doesn’t work, and he is hiding some ingredient which makes it good”. Trust me, I need feedback, if not for anything, I need to use that as an input to get it better next time and also refine my recipes so that you get it right.

A good fish curry is about amalgamating fresh ingredients and also keeping its freshness and crunchiness even after it is cooked. I will take you through the how part with some easy steps.

1. If you take more that 30 minutes to make a fish curry then there is something seriously gone wrong somewhere and trust me 30 minutes is still an exaggerated figure. So depending on the cuisine and recipe its 2 mins to 30 minutes.
2. Balancing the ingredients. I am a firm believer of adapting and creating something unique, and also a firm believer of keeping the balance intact. I refer to the Yin-Yang balance in the ingredients. The best balance for fish is ginger for example, and especially for Asian cuisines I try to keep that as core.
3. Never cook your curry in high flame, especially when using coconut, as the tendency to curdle and making the fish harder is very high
4. Always stir at constant intervals so that the curry just don’t froth and boil. The best thing to do is to swing the pot in a circular direction after lifting away from the heat so that even the fish pieces don’t break.
5. The thicker the pot you use, especially clay pots, they retain heat even after you have removed from the heat so that also means the fish will continue to cook even after its taken out of the heat
6. Consistency of the curry is something you will get right over a period of time. It is better to have thicker consistency and then dilute it than a very diluted curry which you cant even cook it for a longer time for the water to evaporate. Remember the fish contains water and it leaves water so you need to consider that aspect depending on the kind of fish you are using.

Baby Shark Curry

400 grams Baby shark, cut in to ½ in pieces
5 tablespoon freshly ground coconut
1 teaspoon cumin
¾ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
2 tablespoon of tamarind paste (or 1 lime size of tamarind soaked in 1 cup of water)
1 inch piece if ginger buised and chopped
5 green chillies slit in length
1 large tomato cut in to big cubes
1 sprig of curry leaves
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2 tablespoon of coconut oil
In a food blender, add coconut, tamarind, turmeric, chilly powder, cumin and 2 cups of water and grind it to a fine consistency. Take a thick bottomed pot and add tomato, ginger, curry leaves and green chilly and knead all together with fingers. Add the blended coconut mixture in the pot and mix together and then add the fish in to the pot. Add salt to taste mix again altogether with your hand and then bring it to boil on medium heat stirring it occasionally. Then reduce the heat and cook for another 5 minutes. Take a small sauce pan add the oil until it starts to slightly smoke, add in the fenugreek seeds and let it crackle for 10 secs and add that in to the pot where the fish is simmering and take the pot out of the heat and let it rest for 15 minutes.